In the opinion of Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga, the proposals of the Hungarian Banking Association disclosed last week do not address the two most pressing problems, and therefore the Cabinet will present its own recommendations for the relief of foreign currency debtors.
Hungary’s government debt-to-GDP ratio decreased by more than 4 percentage points over the past three years, Minister of State for Taxation Affairs Gábor Orbán said at a press conference in Budapest.
Deputy State Secretary for Global Affairs Péter Wintermantel paid a visit to Japan from 24 to 26 October. During his visit, Mr Wintermantel held consultations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Besides the official meetings, he also participated at the event celebrating 23 October, Hungary’s National Day.
Hungary must pursue the goal of drawing young people who have been staying in Europe back to their homeland, Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics said on Friday.
The Ministry of National Economy is drafting a plan that would see the monthly payments of foreign currency mortgage holders drop by 15-20 percent from 2014 and the loans themselves phased out over the next 3-5 years.
By reforming the system of savings cooperatives, the Government does not only perform an economic policy task but aspires to achieve important social and development policy goals as well: primarily to improve the development of rural Hungary. Since, in many places, there are only post offices or only savings cooperatives available, it is very important goal to provide national coverage of the comprehensive range of banking, insurance, investment and postal products and services.
During the meeting of NATO Ministers of Defence in Brussels Hungarian Minister of Defence Mr Csaba Hende had separate talks as well with his American counterpart Mr Chuck Hagel on 22nd October.
“Changes in the European missile defence system are insignificant, but the Russians seem willing to participate in further negotiations. The most important lesson regarding the situation in Afghanistan is that Afghanistan must not be abandoned,” said Mr. Csaba Hende Minister of Defence in his interview given to the Hungarian News Agency, MTI, after his meeting with the Defence Ministers of NATO Member States on Wednesday, 23rd October.
The Biotechnology Outreach Conference, organised by the Hungarian Biotechnology Association took place in Budapest October 24. Minister of State Cséfalvay, who was the patron of the event made the opening remarks. He talked about Hungarian economic policy also with regard to future plans, as well as the Government’s innovation strategy.
On October 22, a statue commemorating world-famous Hungarian-born conductor Sir Georg Solti was inaugurated in front of the freshly renovated Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest; Foreign Minister János Martonyi gave a speech at the inauguration ceremony.